Turnaround Arts Leadership Retreat in Virginia

Three principals and eight teachers from Louisiana joined Louisiana A+ Schools Director Bethany France and Deputy Director Kim Leavitt for 5 days of intensive training at the Turnaround Arts Leadership Retreat outside of Alexandria, VA.  Turnaround Arts is a national reform initiative, designed to utilize the arts to "turn around" failing schools.  The George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts, through the LAA+ program, was one of six new sites recently added to phase 2 of the initiative.

Educators from Louisiana's three Turnaround Arts schools attend the Leadership Retreat in Virginia.

Drumming, anyone?

Dance is one of many ways educators create arts-integrated curriculum.

Turnaround Arts is unique in that each school is assigned a celebrity artist who makes site visits throughout the school year, working in classrooms with students and providing professional development workshops.  Nigel Lythgoe, creator of "American Idol" and judge on "So You Think You Can Dance?", was the artist-in-residence at the retreat and took workshops alongside participants.

LAA+ Deputy Director Kim Leavitt (left) and Director Bethany France (right) are joined by Turnaround Artist Nigel Lythgoe (center) during the workshops.

Principals and teachers gained invaluable insight into strategies such as managing classroom behavior through drama and integrating visual art into reading.  Sessions were taught by nationally known teaching artist from the Kennedy Center.  Turnaround Arts kicks off in three Louisiana schools this Fall:  Homer Elementary in Homer, St. Helena Arts and Technology Academy in Greensburg, and Homer Plessy Charter School in New Orleans.

White House Partnership Announced

On Tuesday, May 20th, the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities named the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts (GRFA) as program director for Turnaround Arts: Louisiana, an education initiative designed to turn around low-performing schools through arts-integration, as well as boost academic achievement, motivate student learning, and improve school culture. Six new Turnaround Arts districts have been named across the United States.

Using the research-based principles of its successful Louisiana A+ Schools Program, GRFA will serve three schools in the state in partnership with the Turnaround Arts: Louisiana initiative. Over the next two years, the PCAH and partners like GRFA will provide the training and resources necessary to address the specific needs of each school.

Pictured, Kim Leavitt (Deputy Director, Louisiana A+ Schools), Jane Brown and Janice Williams (Homer Elementary), Joan Riley (Homer A. Plessy Community School), Bethany France (Director, Louisiana A+ Schools), Kelli Joseph (St. Helena Arts & Technology Academy), and Jacques Rodrigue (Executive Director, George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts)

Schools selected for the Turnaround Arts: Louisiana program includes Homer A. Plessy Community School in New Orleans, St. Helena Arts & Technology Academy in Greensburg, and Homer Elementary School in Homer. These schools will receive arts education training and resources to address their individual needs, including arts supplies, music instruments, teacher training, and funding for partnerships with community arts education and cultural organizations. High-profile artists will also “adopt” Turnaround Arts schools for the length of the program, working with students, schools and communities to highlight their success.

Alfre Woodard, one of two Turnaround Artists adopting Louisiana schools, shared, "My work with Turnaround Arts has been tremendously rewarding. I've loved every moment of getting to know these deserving kids and their dedicated teachers and principals. All you have to do is walk in to one of our schools and you can see, hear, and feel the transformation taking place.....the positive energy in the halls, the focus of the teachers and the students in class, the light in a kid's face as he or she finds his or her voice. This sense of purpose is what is turning these schools around. I am honored to be part of it."

“The George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts is happy to announce the addition of these three schools into our Louisiana A+ Schools network, expanding our reach to ensure access to high-quality arts-integrated learning for all students,” said Jacques Rodrigue, Executive Director of the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts. “This initiative began before Dad [Artist George Rodrigue] got sick and my family and I are excited to form new partnerships so that we can continue to improve schools in the state that Dad loved so much. This investment from the President’s Committee on Arts and Humanities is a major step forward for our organization as we prove that a holistic whole-school approach to arts-integration directly impacts student academic achievement and school environment.”

GRFA and Louisiana A+ Schools are deeply honored to be a part of this tremendous initiative and look forward to working with our partner schools to inspire and engage students to academic achievement through arts-integration.

Fellows Gather in Shreveport for Retreat

The R. W. Norton Art Gallery in Shreveport, LA, is home to a collection of original American and European works of art.  This past weekend, however, it was also home to the Louisiana A+ Schools Fellows retreat.  From across the state, 52 fellows and teachers gathered to plan customized professional development strategies for each A+ School attending the Summer Institute in July.  Fellows from the Oklahoma A+ Schools Program were also there to lend their expertise and discuss ways to integrate the Eight A+ Essentials. 

Breakout groups scattered throughout the exhibition spaces for planning sessions.  In their team groups, fellows analyzed surveys and feedback from teachers at LAA+ schools to determine their needs for the coming year.  Depending on a school’s needs, training varies to integrate the arts into Common Core, as well as how to use the arts to improve reading and math skills.

The LAA+ Schools Program would like to extend its gratitude to the staff of the R. W. Norton Art Gallery, who generously gave their time and enthusiasm throughout the weekend.  It was wonderful to be within the beautiful galleries and surrounding gardens for the retreat.

LAA+ Fellow Henry Price Honored at Louisiana Culture Awards

On April 22, 2014, the annual Louisiana Culture Awards were held at the Capital Park Museum in Baton Rouge.  Part of the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development’s Culture Connection, this awards ceremony honored individuals and organizations making significant contributions to the state’s historic, artistic, and cultural legacies.

This year’s Art Education Award recipient was Henry Price of Shreveport, who was instrumental in the founding of the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts’ Louisiana A+ Schools Program.  His commitment to establishing visual arts and music instruction as part of core curricula is evident in his professional and leadership positions.  He is the arts supervisor for Caddo Parish Schools, president of the Shreveport Regional Arts Council, and a member of many boards in Shreveport and northwest Louisiana.

Pictured, (Left) Chairman of the Louisiana State Arts Council, Michael Echols , (Center) Henry Price  (Right) Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne 

Please join us in congratulating Henry Price for this tremendous award!  It’s because of passionate individuals like him that Louisiana A+ Schools can continue to nurture creativity in every student through an arts-integrated school network.

Jacques Rodrigue, Executive Director of the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts, was also in attendance to present the newly-created George Rodrigue Lifetime Cultural Achievement Award to Sue Turner of Baton Rouge.  A philanthropist and community activist, Sue has worked to preserve historical sites and the arts of Louisiana through leadership positions and contributions to numerous organizations across the state.

Pictured, (Left) Executive Director of the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts, Jacques Rodrigue, (Center) Sue turner, (Right) Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne

Happy Arts in Education Week and Hear from an A+ Student

In July of 2010, the U.S. House of Representatives passed House Resolution #275 designating the second week of September as National Arts in Education Week. The resolution expressed congressional support for arts education:

Whereas arts education, comprising a rich array of disciplines including dance, music, theatre, media arts, literature, design, and visual arts, is a core academic subject and an essential element of a complete and balanced education for all students.

In honor of this week, we wanted to share with you a great article from a student (pictured below) at Riverside Academy, our A+ School in Reserve, Louisiana.  We think she really sums up exactly what this week is all about!

Sarah Peytavin submitted her article to the Times-Picayune in New Orleans and you can see it online here.  However, we loved it so much that we have reproduced it below (pictured throughout, teachers from Riverside receiving professional development training at our Summer Institute):

Riverside Academy in Reserve recently became one of seven Louisiana A+ schools. The program is designed to bring art to all classrooms through dance, music, theater and other art mediums . . .

On the first day of school, the teachers delightfully cheered, danced, and sang about the changes that A+ would bring to Riverside. 

One simply has to enter the building to see the difference. The front hallway is decorated with expressions and pictures that students feel represent Riverside. 

In high school, Angie Roussel’s math classes are learning to graph the volume of songs rather than learning through a traditional lecture. Mary Graci’s AP government and politics class has been making life-size models of the Founding Fathers while her AP human geography class has been studying cartography by making maps of the school and to their homes. Graci’s classes have also been putting on history-related silent plays. 

Elementary and preschool students also are enjoying the new art curriculum. Kendra Glider preschool class served as authors and illustrators for the class ABC book and learned about sentences by singing the Sentence Buddy song. The kindergarteners recently went on a Blue Dog hunt around the school. The students in Molly Duhe’s kindergarten class are frequently seen creating letters with their bodies. The third graders can be found creating arrays on the floor using tiles and creating their very own maps of the United States. 

Elementary students have also been reading the short story, “Why is the Blue Dog Blue?” to serve as inspiration for their very own blue dog drawings and stories. 

The new curriculum is being welcomed by many open minded students and teachers at Riverside Academy. 

Thank you so much Sarah for the great early report!  Students like you are the reason why we do all that we can to keep the arts in school.  Happy arts in education week!

On-Site Professional Development Begins

One of the three legs of the A+ Stool is of course professional development training for teachers.  LAA+ hosts large scale multiple-day off-site trainings for entire faculties of all our schools.

Plus, we visit each of our member schools during the course of the year to conduct customized training in arts-integration and A+ methods based upon the actual requests of what a school thinks it needs.

This week, we began our first trainings at Riverside Academy in Reserve and at Epiphany Day School in New Iberia, Louisiana.

Our Fellows gave our schools further instruction on curriculum mapping in order to more thoroughly integrate the arts into actual lesson plans during the upcoming school year.

We are so excited to be working with ALL of our Member Schools and look forward to seeing them transform as they begin to implement the Eight A+ Essentials.

(pictured throughout, photos taken by our participants and Fellows and posted to Twitter @AplusLA or using the hashtag #aplusla)

Summer Institute Media Coverage

Selected news coverage from the first Louisiana A+ Schools Summer Institute (2013), which was held in June on the campus of LSU. Interviews with Jean Hendrickson, Executive Director, Oklahoma A+ Schools and Jacques Rodrigue, Executive Director of the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts. Louisiana A+ Schools is a program of the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts. Credit WVLA and WBRZ Baton Rouge.